BRB, 27/11/2011

Tchaikovsky : The Nutcracker

Birmingham Royal Ballet
Royal Ballet Sinfonia
Koen Kessels

This wonderful production of Nutcracker is, astonishingly, twenty years old, and hasn't lost one iota of its magic in all this time.  It's at least the fourth time I've seen it, and although I've seen a fair few other productions (including Peter Wright's for the Royal Ballet, which shares quite a bit of the same choreography), not one has come anywhere close to the same degree of enchantment conjured up by John Macfarlane's superb designs and stagecraft.

Heading this afternoon's cast was Laura Purkiss's delightful Clara - this is a dancing version, therefore an adult dancer in the role - nicely catching that delicate and constantly shifting balance between girl and young woman.  Both the Nutcracker Prince (Tzu-Chao Chou) and the Sugar Plum Fairy (Maureya Lebowitz) are fairly new additions to the company, and look to be good ones, and it's my understanding this was their first outing in these particular roles.

Chou made a good initial impression, but I was not quite so happy with him in the Grand Pas from Act 2.  I think that maybe he is not completely comfortable in what might be called the "grand Imperial style" (i.e. Petipa et al).  It's not that he can't do the moves, not at all, but he struck me as lacking that ultimate edge of conviction that is a necessity to pull off this style.  In the Act 1 pas de deux with Clara, he was much more at ease and striking.

Lebowitz, on the other hand, had the attitude down to a tee.  It's that absolute sense of physical confidence, the way a dancer has of saying, with her/his body, "this is exactly what I want to do, how I want to do it, and when I want to do it".  There was a sense of relaxed expansiveness, effortless, yet deliberate and precise, with all the poise and grace one expects of the classical ballerina.  This is a short part which does not require much emotional output, only an impeccable technique, so I don't have anything like a complete picture of Lebowitz as a dancer, but it was a more than promising introduction.

Amongst the myriad other solo parts, Céline Gittens delivered a deliciously sensuous Arabian Dance, and Samara Downs was a lovely, cool and light Snow Fairy.  Valentin Olovyannikov needs to work a little harder on his stage presence as Drosselmeyer; he wasn't compelling enough in Act 1, where he needs to be a somewhat disquieting figure, and especially during the Transformation Scene, when the dancer should keep the attention of the audience on him, so that the magnificent scene change truly appears to have taken place by magic.  He was better as the genial MC for the Divertissement of Act 2.

The company as a whole looks on good form, clean ensemble work making for pleasing viewing of the corps de ballet, and with good, confident playing from the orchestra.  At any rate, as long as this production stays in the repertoire, it will always be a delight to see.